Surf Culture St. Augustine Part II: Building a Museum and Fostering Community Spirit
This blog is by Claire Barnewolt, M.A. in History 2018.
(this post is the second of two about the opening of the Surf Culture Museum; see part one here)
When I published “Surf Culture St. Augustine Part I” in January 2020 on this blog, I was working with the St. Augustine Historical Society in Florida to open a new Surf Culture Museum. Magen Wilson, Jeanette Vigliotti, and I had transitioned from collecting oral history interviews from surfers in St. Augustine to compiling and grouping emerging narratives into what would eventually become the five rooms of the new museum. We had hoped to host a grand opening in October 2020, complete with a lecture series at nearby Flagler College and a festive celebration of the community effort that had led to the success of our project. Little did we anticipate that the year 2020 would mean planning our panels on Dropbox, meeting with an exhibit designer and our coworkers over Zoom, and postponing our grand opening until August 2021.
While we worked on the designs for the museum panels with exhibit designer Jodi Marcil, we continued to conduct oral history interviews with St. Augustinians, even over the phone, when COVID-19 protocol demanded it. Adjusting to these challenges, that is staying connected to community in the midst of such social isolation, was integral, because we pledged to remain committed to two of our original goals: including direct quotations from our narrators on the museum’s display panels and incorporating receivers throughout various rooms in the museum so that visitors had the chance to listen to their voices.
Our steady dedication and continued efforts to reach out to other local cultural heritage institutions and surf organizations paid off. We received generous donations of artifacts and images to display. One such collection was photographer M.E. Gruber’s surf images from the West Palm Beach Historical Society. Gruber traveled through Florida in the 1960s taking photographs of surfers, and shot images of many of our locals in the late ‘60s at St. Augustine Beach.
As Magen, Jeanette, Jodi and I started to get a feel for the physical space we were inhabiting, the historic Tovar House on Historical Society grounds, we thought of the other elements we could include: monitors to display the reels of video from donors, a model of the St. Augustine Beach Pier, and racks to hold loaned vintage boards. We agreed on each room’s theme as well. Room 1 would encompass the general history of surfing in Florida as we had researched it, which spanned from 1911 to present day. Trips to Cocoa Beach, New Smyrna Beach, and Daytona Beach informed our early Florida surf knowledge. Room 2 would depict the 1960s and 1970s in St. Augustine, and those early surfers who shaped the sport and the surf spots into what they are today. Iconic shots from Gruber give visitors a sense of the ‘60s look of the era. We also agreed on the importance of including contextual information about the segregated beaches of St. Augustine at the time and to provide quotations depicting the Civil Rights demonstrations, known as wade-ins, that took place on some of the beaches we would be highlighting.
Room 3 would be devoted to our local legends. This room was enormously difficult to curate because of the immense talent characterizing St. Augustine. We created highlight panels of the professional surfers, shapers, and photographers that have emerged from this small surfside community and have gone on to influence the industry with their creativity and warmth of spirit.
Room 4 would contain vibrant descriptions of the different surf shops in town. Local mentor and surf shop owner Tory Strange loaned several vintage boards on display in this room. We also discuss local shapers, those who built the surf boards. And last but certainly not least, Room 5 would illustrate surfing as a family sport devoted to the community and to nature. This room particularly encapsulates our efforts at ensuring this is a museum made by and for the St. Augustine community. Local chapters of charities such as Sups and Pups (benefiting K9s for Warriors), SurfQuest(empowering those with disabilities to learn to surf), and SurfRiders (protecting the world’s oceans and beaches) are highlighted here.
On the night of the grand opening in August 2021, we also displayed cards that visitors could take with them in order to access our digital site. Using the Omeka platform, our coworkers have published a digital archive (https://stasurfarchive.omeka.net/), which houses all of our oral history interviews, in audio and transcription form, as well as our image collection. Having this digital archive was such a relief, as we began to realize we could not possibly fit every image we had collected into our five rooms.
In addition to the physical structure of this new surf museum and our digital archive, our surf culture project has led to fruitful collaborations that we hope are ongoing. The St. Augustine Historical Society has teamed up with SurfearNEGRA, an organization focused on bringing cultural and gender diversity to the surf industry, by pledging to raise awareness of SurfearNEGRA and to sponsor one young woman to the program for 12 months each year. We have also partnered with a newly formed non-profit called the St. Augustine Board Riders Club, which has used our new museum as a meeting place. Our longtime friends, Marineland, have opened their Marineland History Museum on the floor above our surf museum. On the day of our grand opening, we also celebrated the Marineland exhibit, which explores the history of Marine Studios, a setting for Hollywood films dating back to 1938.
Opening day itself was quite surreal. It felt fantastic seeing so many people we had interviewed in one place, again COVID-19 permitting. Different generations met each other, legends recognizing legends. A pair of 1960s greats that hadn’t seen each other in 35 years reconnected. We were overflowing with gratitude – and with extra artifacts. For the grand opening, we spread out some of our loaned items into other Historical Society buildings. For example, one veteran from St. Augustine who had served in Afghanistan had not been able to stand the thought of being stranded in the desert. He shipped some material to a military base and shaped three surfboards while on deployment, one of which was displayed on opening day of the museum.
I’m happy to say, this project seems to have touched so many. One St. Augustinian surfer has been inspired to try out an oral history project in the Philippines, we still have a surf issue of El Escribano, the Historical Society’s journal, forthcoming, and now that I find myself living in Hawaii, I’m sure I could find something surf-related here….
~Claire Barnewolt is the Co-founder of the Surf Culture Museum, she is currently a Historian supporting the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Indo-Pacific Directorate.
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